March, 11 2010, 01:09pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Inga Sarda-Sorensen, Director of Communications
(Office) 646.358.1463
isorensen@theTaskForce.org
Task Force: Amend the Fair Housing Act to Ban Housing Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
National lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights leader urges Congress to protect LGBT people from pervasive discrimination
WASHINGTON
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund Executive
Director Rea Carey today called on federal lawmakers to amend the Fair
Housing Act to ban discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT) people.
Carey made the remarks in her testimony at the House Committee on
the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and
Civil Liberties hearing, "Protecting the American Dream: A Look at the
Fair Housing Act." The Task Force was the only LGBT rights group
presenting oral testimony at today's historic hearing.
The Fair Housing Act currently prohibits discrimination by direct
providers of housing, such as landlords and real estate companies,
municipalities, banks or other lending institutions, and homeowners
insurance companies whose discriminatory practices make housing
unavailable to people because of race or color, religion, sex, national
origin, family status or disability. Carey urged lawmakers to expand
protections to include LGBT individuals and families.
"For us, the pursuit of the American dream, including home
ownership, is a risky proposition. When our sexual orientation or
gender identity is known, either because we offer it willingly or a
landlord, realtor or lender is made aware by other means, there is
potential for outright hostility, property damage and even physical
violence," Carey testified. "Studies show that in renting apartments,
when callers described themselves as gay or lesbian, apartments are
more likely to be described as unavailable."
Carey also cited preliminary data from a forthcoming and
groundbreaking national survey of transgender and gender identity
discrimination in the U.S. by the Task Force and National Center for
Transgender Equality. More than 6,000 transgender people were surveyed,
with respondents from all 50 states and the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
"Disturbingly, 11 percent of transgender people reported having been
evicted and 19 percent reported becoming homeless due to bias," Carey
told lawmakers. "While the general population has a home ownership rate
of 68 percent, our survey showed only a 32 percent rate among
transgender people."
She testified that LGBT seniors also fall within a higher risk
category in terms of housing challenges. The Task Force recently
released Outing Age 2010, a comprehensive review of elder
policy in the U.S. That study found that employment discrimination over
the lifespan, combined with a lack of recognition of LGBT relationships
and families in federal safety net programs such as Social Security
leave LGBT people especially fragile economically and socially as they
age. This translates into higher rates of housing insecurity among LGBT
elders - either as they try to retain family homes in the face of
long-term care or when they attempt to secure LGBT-friendly elder
housing - which is virtually nonexistent.
While 20 states and D.C. prohibit discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation and 13 states and D.C. include gender identity,
federal protections are still needed given that implementation and
uniformity of enforcement varies across jurisdictions.
"LGBT individuals suffer pervasive discrimination in so many areas
of their lives," said Carey. "No one should be evicted, be kept from
living in certain areas, or pay more rent simply because of who they
are. Nor should anyone have to lie about who they are in order to have
safe housing. For all these reasons, the Fair Housing Act should be
amended to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and
gender identity."
The National LGBTQ Task Force advances full freedom, justice and equality for LGBTQ people. We are building a future where everyone can be free to be their entire selves in every aspect of their lives. Today, despite all the progress we've made to end discrimination, millions of LGBTQ people face barriers in every aspect of their lives: in housing, employment, healthcare, retirement, and basic human rights. These barriers must go. That's why the Task Force is training and mobilizing millions of activists across our nation to deliver a world where you can be you. Join us!
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May 03, 2024
An analysis published Friday by the renowned economist Gabriel Zucman shows that in 2018, U.S. billionaires paid a lower effective tax rate than working-class Americans for the first time in the nation's history, a data point that sparked a new flurry of calls for bold levies on the ultra-rich.
Published in The New York Times with the headline "It's Time to Tax the Billionaires," Zucman's analysis notes that billionaires pay so little in taxes relative to their vast fortunes because they "live off their wealth"—mostly in the form of stock holdings—rather than wages and salaries.
Stock gains aren't currently taxed in the U.S. until the underlying asset is sold, leaving billionaires like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla CEO Elon Musk—a pair frequently competing to be the single richest man on the planet—with very little taxable income.
"But they can still make eye-popping purchases by borrowing against their assets," Zucman noted. "Mr. Musk, for example, used his shares in Tesla as collateral to rustle up around $13 billion in tax-free loans to put toward his acquisition of Twitter."
To begin reversing the decades-long trend of surging inequality that has weakened democratic institutions and undermined critical programs such as Social Security, Zucman made the case for a minimum tax on billionaires in the U.S. and around the world.
"The idea that billionaires should pay a minimum amount of income tax is not a radical idea," Zucman wrote Friday. "What is radical is continuing to allow the wealthiest people in the world to pay a smaller percentage in income tax than nearly everybody else. In liberal democracies, a wave of political sentiment is building, focused on rooting out the inequality that corrodes societies. A coordinated minimum tax on the super-rich will not fix capitalism. But it is a necessary first step."
Responding to those who claim a minimum tax would be impractical because "wealth is difficult to value," Zucman wrote that "this fear is overblown."
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Since 2018, the final year examined in Zucman's analysis, the wealth of global billionaires has continued to explode while worker pay has been largely stagnant. As of last month, there were a record 2,781 billionaires worldwide with combined assets of $14.2 trillion.
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"The ultra-wealthy are paying less in taxes than the bottom half of income earners. That's absurd!" Rakeen Mabud, chief economist at the Groundwork Collaborative, wrote in response to Zucman's analysis. "We've got to raise taxes on the wealthy and large corporations. Enough with the wealth hoarding. It's past time for us to take back what's ours."
U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), chair of the Senate Budget Committee, called the figures assembled by Zucman "disgraceful" and said that "not only can we fix this, we can make Social Security and Medicare safe and sound as far as the eye can see."
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Gaza: “This contingency plan is Band-Aids. It will absolutely not prevent the expected substantial additional mortality and morbidity caused by a military operation.” - Dr Richard Peeperkorn of @WHOoPt
“Any ground operation would mean more suffering and death” - @UNOCHA
. pic.twitter.com/tJHt8dh3D7
— United Nations Geneva (@UNGeneva) May 3, 2024
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Conditions in Rafah are already dire. The city—which was home to fewer than 300,000 people before the war—is now one of the most densely populated places on the planet. Hundreds of thousands of refugees are crowded together in tents and other makeshift shelters. Water and other necessities are in desperately short supply. According to James Elder, the global spokesperson for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), there is approximately one toilet for every 850 people in Rafah and one shower for every 3,500 people.
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There are nearly 600,000 children in Rafah, nearly all of whom are "injured, sick, malnourished, traumatized, or living with disabilities," UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell said Wednesday.
The war in Gaza is taking an unimaginable toll on children.
In Rafah, a city of children, the impact of a further escalation would be devastating.
The lives of children must be protected.
All the hostages must be released.
The nightmare for so many families must end. pic.twitter.com/5kOye5VySZ
— Catherine Russell (@unicefchief) May 1, 2024
Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, who represents the U.N. World Health Organization in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories, on Friday called contingency response plans for a Rafah invasion a "Band-Aid" solution.
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Despite pleas and protestations from world leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to invade Rafah to "eliminate Hamas' battalions there."
Earlier this week, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the "total annihilation" of Gaza, specifically mentioning Rafah. The South Africa-led case against Israel at the ICJ has centered similar statements of intent to destroy Palestinians—which are key to proving the crime of genocide—made by Israeli officials since October.
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